By the time Hunter was ready to go, Chase had dropped off a car for him and Kat to use. Kat was waiting for him when he came downstairs and she laughed out loud when she saw him. “Nice hair…and eyes.”

Hunter had not dyed his hair this time, he’d bleached it. Apparently, Kay thought he’d look better as a platinum blond than a brunette too. He kind of liked it, especially with the blue contact lenses she’d picked up for him as well.

“Thanks, you look nice too,” he said, taking in Kat’s brown slacks and beige silk blouse. She’d worn long sleeves, covering up her tattoos and she had her long, black hair up in a bun. Instead of boots, she wore open-toed sandals. It was something no one in the bar had ever seen, as evidenced by the way they were all staring at her.

“Thanks. I always wondered if I could pull off the soccer mom thing if I had to.”

“You got it down,” Hunter told her. “You think this woman will recognize me?”

Kat shook her head. “Doubtful, if she doesn’t know you.”

“Good. You ready?”

“Yup.”

“David okay with this?”

“Nope.” She turned and walked toward the door and all eyes were on them as Hunter followed her. He felt like he was going out on a blind date. Once they were in the 2014 Hyundai that Chase had dropped off, Hunter said:

“Maybe Dax is right. I don’t want to cause a rift between you and David.”

“Dax is not right. David is my man. He’s my boyfriend, my lover, and I hope one day, my husband and the father of my demon spawn. But he is not the boss of me. I want to do this. I’m bored out of my freaking mind and if David of all people can’t understand that an ‘ordinary’ life is not my thing…well, then we have a problem that has nothing to do with you, Hunter.”

“Is he pissed at me?”

“A little.”

Hunter chuckled and said, “Your honesty is both refreshing and disturbing all at the same time.”

Kat laughed and rubbed her palms together. “Let’s do this.”

Hunter couldn’t help but wonder if he’d bitten off more than he could chew with this one. But it was too late to turn back now. He started the car and they set off for the forty-minute drive to Rockport. Hunter always liked Rockport. When he was a kid, his parents took him and his brother on vacation there in the summer a few times. They never stayed any place fancy, but Hunter and Brett didn’t care about that. They got to fish and play on the beach. It was all good.

Rockport sits right at the tip of Cape Ann and is surrounded on three sides by water. The year-round population is only about six thousand, but it can get crowded during tourist season. He bet that Larry’s daughter did well with a bed and breakfast there. He forgot to ask Chase how old she was, but she didn’t look over twenty-seven or -eight. He wondered where she got the money to buy a B & B. In a place like Rockport, it couldn’t have been cheap. Hunter was sure the money didn’t come from her father. Larry was one of the stupidest crooks Hunter had ever chased. All his crimes had been petty ones to begin with, but he made them worse each time by trying something stupid. He attempted a jailbreak once, assaulted a female officer on the way to court another time and, most recently, skipped out on bail. Hunter didn’t know what made Chase think he was a good risk in the first place, but he tried not to get in on that part of the business if he could help it.

“You ever been to Rockport?” he asked Kat.

“Once, a long time ago. Dillon thought we needed a vacation to ‘bond’ when I was about fifteen. It didn’t work. Nice place though. You have parents?”

Hunter smiled. It wasn’t so much what she said that amused him, it was the way she said it. “Yeah, a mom, anyways. My father passed away when I was just a kid. He had an aneurysm.”

“Shit. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. Mom remarried when I was thirteen and my brother fourteen. That guy turned out to be a great stepdad. We just lost him three years ago.”

“Shit. I heard about your brother too. Some people get dealt more than their fair share.”

Hunter had mourned both his father and stepfather, and he was past the terrible grief that used to plague him when he thought about them. But Brett was different. His brother had been young, healthy, good-looking, funny, kind-hearted…he should still be alive, maybe married to the girl he’d just started seeing before that scumbag who wasn’t good enough to shine his brother’s shoes, killed him. Just thinking about it caused a rush of anger that made Hunter’s blood boil.

“So, tell me about Hollywood,” he said, changing the subject. Kat got it and she started talking about her job in Hollywood as a stuntwoman. She’d semi-retired when she came home to take care of her father. She said she might have walked away even if Dillon hadn’t been sick. She’d watched a colleague die on the set, and the trauma of that stuck with her. She seemed more excited to talk about her new catering business than she did that part of her life. The business was still new, but she told him it was picking up steam. Hunter had a hard time seeing Kat as a cook…unless he compared her to Gordon Ramsay in Hell’s Kitchen; he supposed that he could see that.

Kat talked until they pulled up in front of the B & B. Hunter turned off the car and for a few seconds they both looked up at the 1931 Colonial Revival–style house. It was one of those homes that looked like it had been built to blend in with its surroundings. It was light blue, almost the color of the sky, and the gardens and grounds that surrounded it were just as beautiful. A large porch with a stark white railing wrapped around the home and white wicker furniture sat here and there and seemed to be inviting a quiet conversation, or maybe even a nap. The bay was close enough that they could smell it and seagulls circled overhead. Hunter reached for the door handle and then looked over at Kat, who was still staring at the house.

“I’m not sure I can even pretend to fit in here,” she said, nervously. It was the first time that Hunter had heard her say anything that belied a lack of confidence in herself.

“Yeah, it’s not the kind of place I’m used to either,” he said. “When I was a kid we used to come here sometimes, but we stayed over at the Roadhouse Inn off the highway.”

Kat smiled. “That was where Dillon and I stayed the one time he brought me here too.” She closed her eyes, sucked in a long breath and let it out, and then with her bravado restored she said, “Let’s do this.”

The two of them got out of the car and Hunter got their bags out of the trunk. Kat had only packed a small overnight bag and a backpack. Hunter tucked them both into the large, rolling suitcase he’d borrowed from one of the girls at the ranch. It looked to him more like what a tourist would carry. When they got up the steps and to the front door, Kat tried to hold the door open for him. He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes and stepped through, leaving him to juggle the door and the bags. Getting Kat to act like a “normal” wife, on vacation with her husband, was going to be a challenge, Hunter hoped they found Larry lounging on one of the wicker chairs out back so that they could get out of there quickly. That is, until he saw the woman standing behind the hand-carved oak counter. She was talking to an elderly man and woman who looked to be checking out, and she was smiling. Her dark hair was twisted up in a messy bun and she was wearing a long-sleeved flannel shirt. A smudge of mud or potting soil adorned her smooth cheek and from where Hunter stood, it didn’t look like she was wearing a stitch of make-up. Her eyes sparkled though and her cheeks dimpled as she smiled, and Hunter thought he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

“Put your tongue in your mouth, man.” Kat whispered in his ear. Hunter looked at his “wife,” who was grinning knowingly, and he was surprised, He didn’t think his face was that expressive.

“I was admiring the wood paneling,” he said. “You don’t see that too often anymore.”

Kat snorted. “Sure you were. Bet you didn’t even see the hottie behind the counter.”

“You think she’s hot?” he whispered,

Kat chuckled. “I wouldn’t do her or anything, but yeah, I can appreciate another woman’s beauty.”

Hunter smiled. He’d do her, in a second…he’d frisk her for a pipe first, but then he’d do her…really good. “Hi,” she said, suddenly looking up at them. She made eye contact with Hunter and those aquamarine eyes seemed to sear a hole right through him and touch his soul. He shivered, not sure if from the corniness of the thought, or the feeling of her bonding with his soul. “I’ll be right with you.” She had the tracings of an accent, probably Italian since that’s where Chase said she grew up, but it was light. Her voice was smooth though, like silk…

“Damn, you’ve got it bad,” Kat whispered. “You better stop looking at her like that or people will never believe we’re married.”

“I’m not looking at her like anything,” he lied. Kat smiled and slid her arm through his and whispered:

“You’re looking at her like…if I was really your wife, I’d take the piece I’m carrying out of my pants and shoot you in the head.”

Hunter laughed at that. “Hopefully David knows how to keep his facial expressions to himself.”

“Okay, I was kidding. I’ll let him live for facial expressions, as long as he always keeps his hands and his dick to himself,” she said…with a straight face. They watched quietly as the girl at the counter finished up with the older couple, who were going on and on about how wonderful their stay had been. When she finally got them ushered to the door and closed it behind them, she let out a little relieved breath and once again smiled at Hunter and Kat.

“Welcome to the Rockport Inn. I’m Claire, the owner.”

Hunter put out his right hand and she took it. For a second, he forgot his name, his fake one, anyway…Kat cleared her throat and said, “Hi, Claire. I’m Kathryn Rhoades and this is my husband Tom.”

“Yes, Tom,” he said, like an idiot. “Tom Rhoades.” He finally let go of her hand, way too late. Kat shook it then and Claire said:

“Oh, yes, I saw your reservation. Come on over and we’ll get you checked in.” She walked over to the desk and Kat poked Hunter in the ribs when she saw him looking at Claire’s ass. Fuck, she’s fine. No fucking way Larry’s DNA is in her…anywhere. His old lady had to be cheating on him, with a fucking model. “You folks got here just in time to get settled and have dinner.”

“Something smells good,” Kat said. She wasn’t lying. Once they were up near the desk, the aroma of something roasting was competing with Claire for making Hunter’s mouth water.

Claire smiled. “It’s a pot roast, my specialty.”

“Do you cook all the meals here yourself?” Kat asked her.

“I try to cook as many of them as I can,” she said. “I have a wonderful lady that comes in three days a week to help prepare some things in advance for me, and she does my baking because that’s not my favorite thing.”

“Really?” Kat said. “I’m a cook. I run a catering business. Baking is my favorite.”

“Well, maybe while you’re here, you can give me some tips. I’m just not very good at it.”

“Sure,” Kat said. Hunter was filling out the forms Claire had given him while listening to the exchange. He was surprised at how well Kat was doing. He’d been secure in her ability to back him up if he needed it, but not so much in her social skills.

“There you go,” he said, handing the forms back to her. He’d put his mother’s address as their home address and thankfully, he already had a credit card that Chase paid for in the name of Tom Rhoades. It was a name he’d used before, many times, which made the fact that he almost forgot it that much worse. He handed the card to Claire, and after running it and typing a few things into the computer, she took a real metal key off a board behind her and handed it to him. Their fingers touched and he felt goosebumps race up his arm. He also felt Kat’s foot nudge his.

“Thanks,” he said.

“The room is at the top of the stairs, last door on the right. You’ll have a beautiful view of the gardens and the bay in the background. Help yourself to any of the brochures on the table over by the stairs; there is so much to do here and most of it is within walking distance. Dinner is at six, breakfast at seven a.m., and lunch at noon. If you’re not going to make it for a meal, I’d just appreciate an hour’s notice. Your room is stocked with all the linens you should need, but if you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m at the desk until nine each evening and my cottage is just out back so if you need me after that, you can still call.”

“Wow, it must be difficult having a 24/7 job,” Hunter said, finally getting into character. “I can hardly handle my nine to five some days.”

She smiled again. Damn, those dimples are hot. “This was always my dream, so I love it.”

“How long have you owned this place?”

“Just about a year now,” she said. “It’s still new and exciting. Come see me after I’ve worked 24/7 for ten years and we’ll see how I feel then,” she said with a laugh.

“Well, hopefully your husband helps you.”

“Hopefully, when I get one of those he will,” she said, with another smile.

“Surely you have a brother or father or someone around to help you make repairs and things like that, right?”

Claire looked at Kat. “When you need repairs done around your home, do you always call your husband?” she asked her, sweetly. Kat smiled like the two women were speaking a secret language and said:

“Only if I have a six-month window to get it done.” Claire threw her pretty head back and laughed. Kat laughed too. Hunter could see the similarities between the two women already. He was glad he’d brought Kat along; maybe their similar personalities will help Kat draw her out. Of course, he should have already known Claire was no shrinking violet. He did have the lump on the back of his head to prove it.